Razor blade dispenser



March 19, 1968 M.. D. MlNCHlN RAZOR BLADE DISPENSER Filed Aug. 6, 1965 4Sheets-Sheet l March 19, 1968 MDWNCHW 3,373,862-

RAZOR BLADE DISPENSER Filed Aug. 6, 1965 4 Sheets$heet 2 March 19, 1968M. D. MINCHIN 3,373,862

RAZOR BLADE DISPENSER Filed Aug. 6, 1965 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 GT H a f\FIGII' /I iJWBZ 40 L. 20 a ,8( Flchlz.

March 19, 1968 M, D, WNCHIN 3,373,862

RAZOR BLADE DISPENSER Filed Aug. 6, 1965 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Uitei StatesPatent Ofifrce Patented Mar. 19, 1968 3,373,862 RAZOR BLADE DISPENSERMarjorie Doreen Minchin, 154 Victoria Ave.,

Borrowash, Derby, England Filed Aug. 6, 1965, Ser. No. 477,880 Claimspriority, application Great Britain, Aug. 8, 1964, 32,386/64: Nov. 19,1964, 47,0'74/64 5 Claims. (Cl. 206-16) This invention relates toimprovements in safety razor blade dispensers and concerns dispensationof naked, i.e., unwrapped safety razor blades having longitudinallyextending slots.

In a number of prior proposals an exit for the blades, of which there isonly one has been provided by a slot. However due to the very smallthickness of safety razor blades, i.e. in the order of .004 inch it hasbeen found imprecticable in manufacture for the slot to be formed withsuch precision as to permit only one blade to be dispensed at a time,the result being that there are times when two or more blades areundesirably dispensed when only one is required.

Another reason for this is that the blades are coated with a lubricant,and this imparts to them a strong tendency to stick to each other, sothat as one blade is moved towards the exit, there is a strong tendencyfor the next blade to be carried by the first blade also towards theexit.

In an endeavor to avoid this latter difficulty one proposed dispenserhas been formed with a ramp extending from the interior of the base, atthe exit end, upwardly to the exit, and in addition to have three camformations. This ramp and the cam formations are provided so that whenthe top blade starts to move towards the exit, the ramp and camformations act on adjacent parts of the blade in a manner causing theblade to become bowed longitudinally thereof, and this is for effectingseparation of the top blade from the next blade. However since the exitis provided by an open slot it can happen that two or more blades aredispensed at a time because of the dimensional difficulties abovereferred to.

In another proposed construction the exit has been formed by acompletely closed slot, this being provided as a seal against the entryof dust into the dispenser. At the exit there has been a taper formationfor entry of the front edge of the top blade, and a spring is providedto bias the blades upwardly. Whereas in other constructions there is anaperture in the top cover for blades to be dispensed by thumb pressurethrough the aperture on to the top blade, in the latter proposedconstruction, there is a slide member on the top cover and on theunderside of the slide at the rear thereof there is a thin stripformation for the purpose of engaging behind the top blade. Onedisadvantage of this construction is that due to the very smallthickness of the blades, being in the order of .004 inch, it would beimpracticable in manufacture for the thin strip formation to be formedwith such precision as to permit only one blade to be dispensed at atime, the result being that there would be times when two or more bladeswould be undesirably dispensed when only one is required. Anotherdisadvantage is that, since the exit is completely closed, this wouldhave unacceptable contact with the cutting edges of the blade.

In other proposed constructions there have been provided enlargedopenings at each end of the exit so as to preserve the cutting edgesduring the dispensing operation. However in these constructions theremainder of the exit has been formed by a completely open slot so thatit has the dimensional difficulties in manufacture as above referred to.

In the above proposal having cam formations, certain of these camformations have been disposed to project through the longitudinallyextending slots in the blades thereby to prevent or minimize transversemovements of the blades to maintain their cutting edges clear of thesides of the box. However these cam formations have been of fixed formin such manner as to strongly resist the dispensing movements of theblades.

In one proposed construction by which only one blade can be dispensed ata time, the blades are arranged to be dispensed from opposite end exits.However in this type of construction the blades have to be staggeredlongitudinally so that the dispenser is unduly long, special oppositelyacting stop means having to be provided, and the blades have to bemarked with arrows so that particular care has to be taken in assemblingthe blades in the dispenser and this is undesirably time consuming.

An object of the invention is to provide a safety razor blade dispenserof such improved construction as to be devoid of all the abovedisadvantages and difficulties, i.e. to provide a razor blade dispenserwhich is practical in manufacture, is comparatively small and simple inconstruction so as to be economical to produce, provides for separationof blades without fail, provides for preservation of the cutting edgesof the blades, and ensures without fail that only one blade can bedispensed at a time.

The invention provides a safety razor blade dispenser comprising arectangular container for a stack of the blades, a cover for thecontainer, upstanding formations on the base of the container atlocations to locate the blades with their cutting edges clear of thedispenser sides but permitting forward dispensing of the blades, a rampface extending from the base at the exit end of the dispenser upwardlyto the exit and by which the blades are caused to be longitudinallydisplaced relative to each other upon movement of the blades, by thethumb through a top opening in the dispenser, towards the exit, and bywhich the top blade is separated upwardly, at the exit end of thedispenser, from the next blade, without additional cam or spring means,the exit having end openings to be clear of the cutting edges of a bladewhile the blade is being dispensed, and said exit for the remainder ofits length being provided by formations which include at least onecontrol formation which is resiliently obstructive in predeterminedmanner to a blades dispensing movement. With this construction, thereare no manufacturing difiiculties; no added parts such as a spring andseveral cam formations; the blades cutting edges are preserved; it issubstantially guaranteed that only one blade can be dispensed at a time;and the blades are easily and quickly stacked without any specialarrangement and such that the dispenser is of minimum length withoutspecial oppositely acting stop means. Conveniently the exit is providedby longitudinally arcuate formations by which the leading end of a bladebeing dispensed is bowed transversely thereof to enhance the separationof the top blade from the next. In one construction the exit is providedby opposed formations which are longitudinally arcuate to slightlydifferent degrees respectively. The arcuate surfaces may be ofcontinuous or stepped form. The steps may be in opposed relationship orin relatively staggered relationship. The step portions of the opposedformations may be in mutual contact or they may be spaced but overlapacross the exit. In another construction the exit may be of straightformation. The blade container is conveniently a tray and the cover isconveniently a sheath in which the tray is slidably received, withinterengaging catch formations on the tray and sheath locating them inassembled position. The upstanding formations on the base, i.e. of thetray, conveniently includes a longitudinally extending rib which extendsin a cut-out and is free,

at the exit end of the dispenser, for up and down fiexure.

The exit formations may include a central downward projection for entryinto the longitudinal slot of a blade being dispensed.

The dispenser conveniently has a lower compartment for used blades, anda slot for their entry into the compartment.

The dispenser is conveniently made of plastic which provides for therequired resilience at the exit, of the central rib, and of the catchformations. The ramp face is particularly smooth and convenientlysmoother than the remainder of the dispenser, as provided by accuracy ofmoulding of the ramp face.

The above and other features of the invention set out in the appendedclaims are incorporated in the construction which will now be described,as a specific embodiment with reference to the accompanying drawings inwhich:

FIGURE 1 is a general perspective view of a safety razor blade dispenseraccording to the invention.

FIGURE 2 is a general perspective view of a tray part of the dispenser.

FIGURE 3 is a general perspective view of the tray part loaded withblades.

FIGURE 4 is a general perspective view of a sheath of the dispensershowing the tray sliding into the sheath.

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged detail perspective view, partly broken, andillustrating the interior arrangement of the dispenser.

FIGURE 6 is a front end view of the dispenser.

FIGURE 7 is a similar view to FIGURE 5 showing initial dispensingmovements of the blades.

FIGURE 8 is a similar view to FIGURE 5 showing separation of the topblade from the next blade and the commencement of exit of the topblades.

FIGURE 9 is a general perspective view of the dispenser, with partsbroken away to show the blade separation and initial exit.

FIGURE 10 is a further general perspective view showing the conditionsof FIGURE 9.

FIGURE 11 is a sectional view of the exit end of the dispenser showingthe top blade further advanced through the exit.

FIGURE 12 is a similar view to FIGURE 11 showing the top blade stillfurther advanced.

FIGURE 13 is a front view of the dispenser showing a modification.

FIGURE 14 is a front view of the dispenser showing an alternatemodification.

FIGURE 15 is a sectional view of the front end of the dispenser ofFIGURE 14.

FIGURE 16 is a front view of the dispenser showing a still furthermodification.

FIGURE 17 is a front view of the dispenser showing yet anothermodification.

FIGURE 18 is a sectional view of the front end of the dispenser ofFIGURE 17.

Referring to FIGURE 1, a safety razor blade dispenser 1 for naked bladesis provided comprising a container tray 2, FIGURES 2, 3, and a coversheath 3, FIGURES 1 and 4.

The tray, FIGURE 2, comprises in this example, a plastic moulded base 4with side walls 5, 6 and end walls 7, 8, and also with rear upstandingspaced lugs 9, 10, side catch formations 11, 12, and a centrallongitudinal rib 13. The latter is formed in a longitudinal opening 14and has a triangular rear end portion 15 integral with the base 4 andflanked by slots 16, 17 in the base 4, and a triangular front upstandingrib portion 18 which is free of the base 4.

The front wall 8'has its inner face in the form of a ramp 19 extendingfrom the base 4 upwardly to an exit formation 20 on top of the frontwall 8. In this instance the exit formation 20 is longitudinally convexto a small degree.

At each end of the exit formation 20. there is, see particularly FIGURE3, a part rectangular recess 21, 22.

The ramp face 19 is made particularly smooth and conveniently smootherthan the remainder of the dispenser by particular accuracy in mouldingof the ramp face.

The sheath 3, FIGURES 1 and 4, is also of moulded plastic and hasslightly bowed side walls 23, 24 and a front end wall 25 which has arectangular recess 26 along its upper edge and a rectangular recess 27along its lower edge. The top cover 28 of the sheath has a substantiallycentral and substantially rectangular opening 29 at the front end ofwhich there is a rectangular notch 30 and at the front edge of the cover28 there is a rectangular recess 31 registering with the recess 26.

At the underside of the front edge of the cover 28 there is an exitformation 32 which in this example is of slightly convex formlongitudinally, and at each end of this exit formation there is a partrectangular recess 33, 34. The sheath 28 is also formed with rectangularapertures 35, 36 for co-operation with the catches 11, 12 of the tray.

In assembling the tray and sheath, first a plurality of naked blades 37are positioned in simple stack form in the tray with the rear ends ofthe stack located by the upstanding lugs 9, 10-, FIGURE 3, and with therib 18 projecting upwardly through the slots 38 in the blades and intothe notch 30, and then the tray is slid into the sheath from the rearthereof as indicated in FIGURE 4, until, as indicated in FIGURE 1, thecatches 11, 12 engage in the openings 35, 36, as allowed by resiliencyof the trays side walls 5, 6.

With the parts thus assembled, a slot 39, FIGURE 4, which is formed bythe recesses 26, 31 is at lea-st partly closed or masked by the exitformations 20 and 32 of the tray and sheath respectively as illustratedin FIGURE 5, and the arrangement of the stack of blades 37 is of regularform i.e. with all the edges in vertical alignment as shown for thefront edges 37a in FIGURE 5.

In the present instance the exit formation 20 on the tray, FIGURE 6, hasa slightly greater degree of convexity than the degree of concavity ofthe exit formation 32 of the sheath, with the result that there iscontact between the two exit formations only over a part thereofintermediate the exit ends.

FIGURE 6 also shows that the rectangular recesses 21, 22 of the trayregister with the rectangular recesses 33, 34 in the sheath to formcompletely rectangular openings many times greater in depth than thethickness of one of the blades. The distance apart of the outer edges ofthese recesses is greater than the width of one of the blades.

As indicated in FIGURE 4, the exit end of the top 28 of the sheath isnormally straight, but the convex exit formation 20 of the tray is ofsuch depth that when the tray is assembled in the sheath, the exit endof the sheath top 28 is flexed into arcuate form and there is thereforea predetermined degree of flexible pressure between the exit formations.

FIGURE 5 illustrates that when it is required to dispense the top blade,the thumb indicated at T is pressed down through the opening 29 in thetop 28 of the sheath on to the top blade 37 and at a location towardsthe rear of the opening 29 such that the rib portion 18 is also veryslightly depressed.

FIGURE 7 shows that upon forward movement of the thumb T for a shortdistance, the rib portion 18 is further depressed slightly, and theblades 37 are all displaced longitudinally relatively to each other andforwardly until their front edges 37a abut the ramp face 19 of the tray.This effects initial separation in longitudinal direction of each bladefrom the next.

FIGURE 8 shows that upon further forward movement of the thumb T for ashort distance the front end of the uppermost blade 37 is caused by itsengagement with the ramp face 19 which is between 10 to 45 to ride upthis face and become further separated from the next blade 37, i.e. inan upward direction. In addition the front end of the uppermost blade 37is thereupon forced against the exit formations 20, 32, and by virtue ofrelative resilience between these formations against the blade, a normalpushing action of the thumb on the blade is sufficient for the leadingend of the blade to urge the exit formations 20 and 32 to justsufficient distance apart for exit of this one blade, the commencementof which is illustrated in FIGURES 8, 9 and 10.

FIGURE 9 particularly illustrates that whereas the leading end of theblade curves transversely in convex manner, caused by the arcuate exitformations to further ensure separation of the blade from the next bladethe pressure of the thumb on a middle part of the blade tends to causethis part of the blade to curve in concave manner as illustrated by thebroken section X, a particular result of ths being to still furtherensure separation of the top blade from the next blade.

FIGURE 10 particularly shows that at the leading end of the blade thesecond blade from the top remains with its leading edge straight asindicated at Y.

FIGURE 11 shows a later stage where the topmost blade has been furtherdispensed during which the rib 18 has been lowered but is now allowed toreturn upwardly upon removal of pressure of the thumb T. This rib 18 hasin the meantime prevented sideways movement of the blade to keep itscutting edges clear of the sides of the dispenser. In addition therectangular apertures at the ends of the exit formations have alsoallowed for clear passage of the cutting edges of the blade as the bladeis being dispensed.

FIGURE 12 shows that upon further dispensing of the topmost blade, therear end of the blade first depresses and then rides over the rib 18leaving the blade free to be pulled away from the dispenser.

FIGURE 13 shows that it is not essential for the exit openings to becontinuously arcuate as in FIGURE 6. Instead the arcuate surfaces may beinterrupted by recesses such as 32a and 20a, forming steps which arerelatively staggered.

FIGURE 14 further shows that it is not essential for at least parts ofthe exit formations to be in contact with each other, but instead thearcuate surfaces may he stepped in registry but spaced and convenientlywith the step formations such as 32b in FIGURE 14 slightly overlappingthe step formations 20b across the exit.

FIGURE 15 shows the gap G which is provided by the step formations ofFIGURE 14 but it will be appreciated that the step formations providethe necessary resilient resistance to passage of the blade through theexit.

FIGURE 16 shows that in a simpler form, the exit formations may bestraight and in mutual contact as indicated at 32c, c.

FIGURE 17 illustrates that there may be a downward projection 32d in theexit formation 32 which, as shown in FIGURE 18, is inclined on itsunderside and which is for the purpose of entering into the slot 38 ofthe topmost blade after the rear end of the blade has left the rib 18.This is to further ensure against undersirable sideways movement of therear end of the blade during its final dispensing movement.

As indicated in FIGURES 2, 9, 11 and 12, the tray is conveniently formedof substantially H shape in cross section to provide for a lowercompartment for used blades, there being an entry slot 40, FIGURES 9,11, 12 for insertion of used blades.

What I claim is:

1. A naked razor blade dispenser comprising a casing having a top formedwith a thumb opening and a blade exit end portion, an end wall having anupper blade exit portion which forms with the blade exit end portion ofthe casing top a blade exit slot; ramp means in the casing and extendingfrom side-to-side of the casing and inclining from a location on thecasing floor spaced from said end wall upwardly and forwardly towardsaid blade exit slot; and on the underside of said blade exit end of'thecasing top and on the top side of said ramp means, arcuate surfacescooperating in resilient, substantially closed, exit relationship witheach other.

2. A naked razor blade dispenser comprising a sheath and an inner trayforming a casing, said sheath having a top wall formed with a thumbopening and a blade exit end portion, said tray having an end wall andan'upper blade exit end portion which forms a blade exit slot with theblade exit end portion of said sheath, ramp means in the casing andextending from side-to-side of the casing and inclining from a locationon the casing floor spaced from said end wall upwardly and forwardlytoward said blade exit slot, and on the underside of the blade exit endof the top wall of said sheath and on the top side of said ramp means,arcuate surfaces cooperating in resilient, substantially closed, exitrelationship with each other.

3. A naked razor blade dispenser comprising a casing having a top wallformed with a thumb opening and a blade exit end portion, an end wallhaving an upper blade exit portion which forms with the blade exit endportion of the casing top a blade exit slot; ramp means in the casingand extending from side-to-side of the easing and inclining from alocation on the casing floor spaced from said end wall upwardly andforwardly toward said blade exit slot; and on the underside of the saidblade exit end of the casing top and on the top side of said ramp means,arcuate surfaces formed with alternate projecting surfaces and recessesand the respective projecting surfaces cooperating in resilient,substantially closed, exit relationship with each other.

4. A naked razor blade dispenser comprising a casing having a top wallformed with a thumb opening and a blade exit end portion, an end wallhaving an upper blade exit portion which forms with the blade exit endportion of the casing top a blade exit slot; ramp means in the casingand extending from side-to-side of the casing and inclining from alocation on the casing floor spaced from said end wall upwardly andforwardly toward said blade exit slot; and on the underside of saidblade exit end of the casing top and on the top side of said ramp means,arcuate surfaces formed with alternate projections and recesses and theprojecting surfaces and recesses respectively cooperating in resilient,substantially closed, exit relationship with each other.

5. A naked razor blade dispenser comprising a casing having a top wallformed with a thumb opening and a blade exit end portion, and an endwall having an upper blade exit portion which forms with the blade exitend portion of the casing top a blade exit slot; ramp means in thecasing and extending from side-to-side of the casing and inclining froma location on the casing floor spaced from said end wall upwardly andforwardly toward said blade exit slot; and on the underside of saidblade exit end of the casing top a concave surface and on the top sideof said ramp means a convex surface, the concave and convex surfacesmating to deform the topmost blade when being dispensed and separate itfrom the next blade.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,696,293 12/1954 Testi 20616 X2,928,531 3/1960 Henley 20616 3 3,059,761 10/1962 Kuhnl 20616 FOREIGNPATENTS 533,447 11/ 1956 Canada.

THERON E. CONDON, Primary Examiner.

LOUIS G. MANCENE, Examiner.

1. A NAKED RAZOR BLADE DISPENSER COMPRISING A CASING HAVING A TOP FORMEDWITH A THUMB OPENING AND A BLADE EXIT END PORTION, AN END WALL HAVING ANUPPER BLADE EXIT PORTION WHICH FORMS WITH THE BLADE EXIT END PORTION OFTHE CASING TOP A BLADE EXIT SLOT; RAMP MEANS IN THE CASING AND EXTENDINGFROM SIDE-TO-SIDE OF THE CASING AND INCLINING FROM A LOCATION ON THECASING FLOOR SPACED FROM SAID END WALL UPWARDLY AND FORWARDLY TOWARDSAID BLADE EXIT SLOT; AND ON THE UNDERSIDE OF SAID BLADE EXIT END OF THECASING TOP AND ON THE TOP SIDE OF SAID RAMP MEANS, ARCUATE SURFACESCOOPERATING IN RESILIENT, SUBSTANTIALLY CLOSED, EXIT RELATIONSHIP WITHEACH OTHER.